EAST 1. Tennesse Volunteers I love Bruce Pearl and his painted chest. He's had this program on the rise for the last few years and this is their year to take it from the Gators. Vols return four starters and eight letter winners to a team poised to make a move. Pearl has experience and depth and the East is theirs to lose.

2. Vanderbilt Commadores Vanderbilt finished a distant second with a decent record in the east and is looking to get a steady improvement this year. The commodores return three starters and seven letter winners from last year’s squad. Shan Foster will be back as the team leader in points but the Commodores will need the new youngsters to take a serious role if they expect to have a shot at being the team to beat in the East.

3. Florida Gators Will they reload or rebuild? They lost 10 letter winners from last year losing five starters. Billy Donovan jumped to Orlando before coming right back to Florida may have hurt his recruiting. Marreese Speights will lead the list of newcomers trying to make a difference for the Gators. They'll be a good team but I think it's safe to say that they won't 3-peat. 4. Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky basketball can only hope to make the splash that the Kentucky football team has made this year. They have headed in the right directions with the recent changes starting with the head coach Billy Gillispie who brings experience and a winning attitude. They're going to need a better road record, which was the Achilles heel of this team last year as they posted a weak road record of 4-6. For the team to be successful they must avoid the injury bug that already has bitten this team. They return three starters and an injury to Joe Crawford is already an issue. If they stay healthy and win on the road Kentucky could return to prominence.